The UAFC

Columbo wrote:Awesome

But leaves me confused, I’m not sure if we’re pretty rubbish or brilliant! We seem to alternate game about.. Edinburgh were fully loaded, and we absolutely took them apart - impressed that we kept coming up with big plays any time the momentum looked like stalling - chargedowns, turnovers, that massive scrum (obvious pen, Nige did them a favour). And all the obvious people were great tonight, I’ll tell you who else had a very good game, Billy Burns..

Stockdale‘s hammy looked more like a tweak than anything bad, fingers crossed - very much liked the look of him at 15. (PS Baloucoune needs to do some practice catching the ball!)


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Yes - we are a tad unpredictable. But the one thing that is certainly improving is the defence. The Ulster line speed in the last few games has beeen amazing. The team tackled like demons against both Leinster and Edinburgh. Burns, whom I regarded as nothing special for most of the season, is at long last, beginning to show a few signs of a well-rounded, game managing 10. I'd still like to see Lowry get a run in that slot to see what he can do. With McCloskey in good form, Addison back and Marshall fit again, Ulster will have a good looking midfield next season.
Lyttle and Baloucoune are an impressive couple of kids on the wing with pace to burn and good footwork. Baloucoune will have to work a bit on the high ball but the talent is there. His try was pure class. Lyttle's strength is amazing for a small man. Both these wings could be Ireland contenders before too long.

A mention for Ross Kane, was worried when MM went off so early but the young fellah did superbly, and Nordi was magnificent, just gets on with it each time, are we coming good in time for a huge May?

More and more impressed by Billy Burns. He is becoming a first rate fly half and all credit to him after some of the criticism he has received on this site. Also delighted with how Ross Kane played when called on and if Eric O'Sullivan does not become a full Irish international in the future I will be amazed. As for Nordi. A superb signing and a Leinster friend of mine is doing his nut as to why the Mexicans let him go.

Marco wrote:A mention for Ross Kane, was worried when MM went off so early but the young fellah did superbly, and Nordi was magnificent, just gets on with it each time, are we coming good in time for a huge May?

Good to see recognition for Ross Kane- Ive banged on about him for ages, since he came out of MCB- Hes hitting his straps now I believe. In all honesty he stabilised the tighthead side. MM was duffed in the couple of scrums he packed down in before he limped off. Kane was up against a prop I rate very highly in Schoeman ( who should be on SA's radar) and had no issues- hes also putting himself about now in terms of carries and tackles. He also seems to have packed on more muscle. Really should be up the pecking order. Im meh about MM tbh. I believe Herbst is a better scrummager when fit !! If Herbst was less injury prone ( similar to Deccie Fitz- very good technique but brittle) Id want him to stay. TOT needs another year or two at the coalface to battle harden, but I want Kane to make 3 a real battle with MM. He has age on his side.
Marcell is my man crush- magnificent we have him for 3 years. A beast who owned Mata last night. Hendo nomwords necessary. Twice the pack when he plays.
Treaders hats off- Ive been critical but hes stepped up after xmas. Bit more muscle and he'll be set. Great to have AOC back in the pitch too. Confident when he comes on things tighten up. Great squad player.

Little, if kept fit, is a serious player for a wee man.

Cracker wrote:More and more impressed by Billy Burns. He is becoming a first rate fly half and all credit to him after some of the criticism he has received on this site. Also delighted with how Ross Kane played when called on and if Eric O'Sullivan does not become a full Irish international in the future I will be amazed. As for Nordi. A superb signing and a Leinster friend of mine is doing his nut as to why the Mexicans let him go.

He left of his own accord?

Coetzee has to be player of the season.

CIMANFOREVER wrote:

Cracker wrote:More and more impressed by Billy Burns. He is becoming a first rate fly half and all credit to him after some of the criticism he has received on this site. Also delighted with how Ross Kane played when called on and if Eric O'Sullivan does not become a full Irish international in the future I will be amazed. As for Nordi. A superb signing and a Leinster friend of mine is doing his nut as to why the Mexicans let him go.

He left of his own accord?

Don't be silly the only way players leave Leinster is if they are drugged and bundled into the back of a car.

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big mervyn wrote:Coetzee has to be player of the season.

Agreed. Now the girls in the backs can see why he was worth the wait......
Him and Hendo are old school enforcers. Loved Hendo putting it about last night.

Jackie Brown wrote:

CIMANFOREVER wrote:

Cracker wrote:More and more impressed by Billy Burns. He is becoming a first rate fly half and all credit to him after some of the criticism he has received on this site. Also delighted with how Ross Kane played when called on and if Eric O'Sullivan does not become a full Irish international in the future I will be amazed. As for Nordi. A superb signing and a Leinster friend of mine is doing his nut as to why the Mexicans let him go.

He left of his own accord?

Don't be silly the only way players leave Leinster is if they are drugged and bundled into the back of a car.

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Aye but the Border Fox is in custody now so Jordi escaped with all of his fingers intact.

Billy Burns his passing has improved as has his ability to vary his options -- flat, deep and omit ( pass to the second in line )

I think the six nations rest weeks benefited him allowed him to recover from injury and build upon his experience playing with McCloskey . Similarly the partnership between Clooney and Burns has also improved and he has benefited from an improvement in Clooneys ' passing which was a little ragged at the start of the season.

I await to see if his wet weather game and kicking has improved.

Ulster last night benefited from playing with a referee who did not give the freedom of the field to the opposition -- Glasgow piled( sometimes even dangerously ) into every breakdown -- over, past, and in from the side, with immunity last week which enabled them to play beyond the gain line and with momentum -- Edinburgh were never given the opportunity to dominate the breakdown either by the referee or Ulster.

Sometimes a teams confidence in a referee ( especially away from home ) effects the way team perform . In the Pro14 both teams get to know how referees perform, and their level of competence , and the game maybe a self fulfilling prophecy for both.

The Glasgow game had that sort of feel to it after 10 minutes.

CIMANFOREVER wrote:

Jackie Brown wrote:

CIMANFOREVER wrote:

Cracker wrote:More and more impressed by Billy Burns. He is becoming a first rate fly half and all credit to him after some of the criticism he has received on this site. Also delighted with how Ross Kane played when called on and if Eric O'Sullivan does not become a full Irish international in the future I will be amazed. As for Nordi. A superb signing and a Leinster friend of mine is doing his nut as to why the Mexicans let him go.

He left of his own accord?

Don't be silly the only way players leave Leinster is if they are drugged and bundled into the back of a car.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Aye but the Border Fox is in custody now so Jordi escaped with all of his fingers intact.

Jordi is 100% Catalan. He came here after seeing HWM's fleg.

Great performance and win. In some ways this was more impressive than the Leinster performance, aside from the fact we obviously won this time!

The Leinster game was one where ulster had nothing to lose, were under no real pressure and had a team full of highly motivated people, whether because of interpro rivalry, ireland selection or wanting to show their old province what they are missing. That is the kind of game where the adrenaline just flows and you get the extra 5% through motivation. Glasgow was tough after that not only to replicate that motivation, but even to get the energy levels back, plus most importantly, ulster were away to a very good side who were highly motivated to put on a good show in front of their own fans after taking a tanking at Saracens.

The up and down nature of recent weeks is because this side is still developing and is not (yet) close to going toe to toe with the big boys week in week out. I’d say Leinster, Munster and Glasgow are the top 3 sides in the league and losing away to that Glasgow team was no disgrace. Yes ulster fell apart but i think physical and mental fatigue set in ince the game started slipping away and we butchered a couple of decent opportunities. This is different from last season, where it seemed like the words away fixture led to a capitulation within 10 minutes of kick off.

Last night was a game where ulster were under huge pressure to deliver against a very good side with a formidable pack. Again last season, there was a softness in the ulster pack which meant teams knew how to beat ulster. Edinburgh would have been favourites at home and the way ulster took the game to them and withstood the pressure was fantastic. Yes they made a lot of errrors but what ulster did was keep the pressure in after the first couple of unforced errors which led to more doubt and panic in their ranks. Even when they came back at 7-22 there was no panic in the way ulster played.

2nd in the conference and a heineken qf represents great progress for the season. Ulster will be favourites for the qf and whilst in some ways anything from now is a bonus, i’d say having got the home qf, we now have genuine expectations to reach the semis.

CIMANFOREVER wrote:

Marco wrote:A mention for Ross Kane, was worried when MM went off so early but the young fellah did superbly, and Nordi was magnificent, just gets on with it each time, are we coming good in time for a huge May?

Good to see recognition for Ross Kane- Ive banged on about him for ages, since he came out of MCB- Hes hitting his straps now I believe. In all honesty he stabilised the tighthead side. MM was duffed in the couple of scrums he packed down in before he limped off. Kane was up against a prop I rate very highly in Schoeman ( who should be on SA's radar) and had no issues- hes also putting himself about now in terms of carries and tackles. He also seems to have packed on more muscle. Really should be up the pecking order. Im meh about MM tbh. I believe Herbst is a better scrummager when fit !! If Herbst was less injury prone ( similar to Deccie Fitz- very good technique but brittle) Id want him to stay. TOT needs another year or two at the coalface to battle harden, but I want Kane to make 3 a real battle with MM. He has age on his side.
Marcell is my man crush- magnificent we have him for 3 years. A beast who owned Mata last night. Hendo nomwords necessary. Twice the pack when he plays.
Treaders hats off- Ive been critical but hes stepped up after xmas. Bit more muscle and he'll be set. Great to have AOC back in the pitch too. Confident when he comes on things tighten up. Great squad player.

Little, if kept fit, is a serious player for a wee man.

I think you are being a bit harsh on Moore and the job he has done this season. He came in at a time when our scrum was a real area of weakness in just about every game (inclduing against Dragons 2nds iirc). He certainly deserves some credit for helping to stabilise this. He could probably do with a bit of a break. Not sure of the stats but it seems like Moore and EOS have 0layed almost every game since around October. I suspect that is partly due to a lack of confidence by the coaches in other alternatives to start.

Kane did very well last night and hopefully he can finally kick on from this. He is well into his mid twenties now and i think has close to 40 caps. Through injury but also form he has not yet delivered on the promise he showed when he first came on the scene. I remember him having some very poor games.

As you say he has age on his side but now when given the opportunity he needs to deliver consistently, which he has not done so far in his career. Hopefully your faith in him will be justified!

Neill_M wrote:We can be really good like tonight or the QF say but can also be tom kite at times. It’s hard work supporting Ulster!

You’re not wrong there!

Bart S wrote:

CIMANFOREVER wrote:

Marco wrote:A mention for Ross Kane, was worried when MM went off so early but the young fellah did superbly, and Nordi was magnificent, just gets on with it each time, are we coming good in time for a huge May?

Good to see recognition for Ross Kane- Ive banged on about him for ages, since he came out of MCB- Hes hitting his straps now I believe. In all honesty he stabilised the tighthead side. MM was duffed in the couple of scrums he packed down in before he limped off. Kane was up against a prop I rate very highly in Schoeman ( who should be on SA's radar) and had no issues- hes also putting himself about now in terms of carries and tackles. He also seems to have packed on more muscle. Really should be up the pecking order. Im meh about MM tbh. I believe Herbst is a better scrummager when fit !! If Herbst was less injury prone ( similar to Deccie Fitz- very good technique but brittle) Id want him to stay. TOT needs another year or two at the coalface to battle harden, but I want Kane to make 3 a real battle with MM. He has age on his side.
Marcell is my man crush- magnificent we have him for 3 years. A beast who owned Mata last night. Hendo nomwords necessary. Twice the pack when he plays.
Treaders hats off- Ive been critical but hes stepped up after xmas. Bit more muscle and he'll be set. Great to have AOC back in the pitch too. Confident when he comes on things tighten up. Great squad player.


Little, if kept fit, is a serious player for a wee man.

I think you are being a bit harsh on Moore and the job he has done this season. He came in at a time when our scrum was a real area of weakness in just about every game (inclduing against Dragons 2nds iirc). He certainly deserves some credit for helping to stabilise this. He could probably do with a bit of a break. Not sure of the stats but it seems like Moore and EOS have 0layed almost every game since around October. I suspect that is partly due to a lack of confidence by the coaches in other alternatives to start.

Kane did very well last night and hopefully he can finally kick on from this. He is well into his mid twenties now and i think has close to 40 caps. Through injury but also form he has not yet delivered on the promise he showed when he first came on the scene. I remember him having some very poor games.

As you say he has age on his side but now when given the opportunity he needs to deliver consistently, which he has not done so far in his career. Hopefully your faith in him will be justified!

Marty Moore has had a great season. His scrummaging has become much more solid and his work in the loose has improved out of all recognition !!

I have always rated Ross Kane as the best up and coming THP. His scrummaging is excellent which is his primary role , and although his loose play is not as eye-catching as TOT, he is no slouch in that regard either !! As others have highlighted the biggest threat to him becoming a top class THP is his susceptibility to injury.